9 minute read
God's Love in Action: Winter 2025
from Winter 2025
DEAR PARTNER IN MINISTRY,
This year we mark 80 years of Lutheran World Relief’s service to the world. It’s amazing to consider how many lives have been touched by the love of Christ across the generations.
LWR was founded to help Lutherans in Europe recover from the devastation of World War II. Since then, our mission has grown, and the devotion of Lutheran congregations has grown with it.
As we celebrate this anniversary, we are celebrating you. YOU are Lutheran World Relief. Your faithful commitment, your love for your neighbor, your persistent partnership — you make our ministry possible.
This issue looks back on the impact congregations like yours supported in 2024. Thank you for your commitment to ending poverty, injustice and human suffering this year and for the past 80 … and until your love reaches every neighbor.
In Christ,
P.S. The final spread of this issue is a poster for your church’s bulletin board!
P.P.S. Don’t forget to visit lwr.org/80 to watch and share our anniversary video!
A Look Back at 2024:3 Ways Lutheran congregations changed lives near and far
1. In times of crisis
War, disaster and other emergencies affect everyone, but it’s the world’s poorest who suffer most. That’s why Lutheran World Relief is there to help, wherever and whenever disaster strikes. Here are some ways your congregation met your neighbors’ urgent needs this year:
SOUTH SUDAN: EXTREME FLOODING AND VIOLENCE
Multiple crises have uprooted millions in South Sudan — including young widow Nyaluit Chuol and her five children. When it was no longer safe where they lived, the family walked 70 miles to find dry land and peace in a displacement camp. Yet the lifesaving health care they needed was still out of reach, because the nearest hospital is only accessible by boat.
Then, thanks to your compassion, they got a ride to the hospital in a motorboat — purchased specifically to serve hard-to-reach communities that don’t have roads.
LIBERIA: FUEL TANKER EXPLOSION
Annie Vuku was running errands when an oil tanker crashed and exploded. Although she kept a safe distance, Annie suffered third-degree burns when a man who was on fire ran into her. Tragically, the blast killed 89 people and badly burned 100 more.
With your support, affected families like Annie’s received food packages. These eased the burden for people who lost income, as well as nourished those taking medication for their injuries. Then your generosity replenished the medical supplies on the local hospital’s shelves.
LEBANON: MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT
In September 2024, violence between Israel and Hezbollah dramatically increased — an extension of the conflict between Israel and Gaza. Attacks on south Lebanon became constant, leaving millions of innocent people scrambling for survival as bombs fell on homes, schools and workplaces. Many families fled with nowhere to go; others who stayed suffer from food shortages and other hardships of war.
Your congregation’s generosity provided emergency food parcels, clean water, hygiene supplies, shelter, LWR Quilts & Kits and more to help meet their urgent needs.
2. Quilts & Kits
Stitch by stitch, bundle by bundle, your quilts and kits are tangible gifts of love. In times of greatest need, you wrap that love around your neighbors’ shoulders and provide comfort, dignity and hope. Here are some ways your handmade gifts blessed your neighbors this year:
TÜRKIYE: EARTHQUAKE-AFFECTED FAMILIES
It gets very, very bitterly cold at night,” Leyla says. “We are very happy that you thought of us.
Almost two years after earthquakes destroyed their home, Leyla Güleryüz still lives in a tent with nine family members. Since the February 2023 disaster, your generosity distributed 11,880 LWR Mission Quilts, 14,440 Personal Care Kits and 5,760 Baby Care Kits to families like hers.
MARYLAND, USA: KEY BRIDGE COLLAPSE
In March, a ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, very close to Lutheran World Relief’s office in Baltimore. The bridge collapsed, killing six people and trapping 11 ships in the port for several weeks. Because LWR depends on seafarers to carry your love around the world, we felt called to make their stay more comfortable. Your generosity delivered quilts and Personal Care Kits to show hospitality to stranded crews.
QUILT & KIT MINISTRY EXPANDS TO HELP U.S. NEIGHBORS!
In September, we announced that the LWR Quilt & Kit Ministry was officially expanding to reach neighbors in need in the United States. We were thrilled by the outpouring of support from our quilters and kit makers following this news. Thank you for so generously loving your neighbors, near and far!
3. For the long term
The world’s poorest families need more than relief. They need patient, longer-term support to overcome the challenges that trap them in poverty. Here are some examples of families you’ve helped to break the cycle this year:
NEPAL: OVERCOMING GENERATIONAL POVERTY
Now I do not need to rely on others, or stretch out my hands to others for money.
Nageswor Chaudhary tried many jobs to provide for his family, but he always came up short. Even though he is intelligent and hardworking, as a Dalit — a member of the lowest caste — his opportunities were limited.
Congregations like yours are helping the poorest families learn new farming skills to increase their incomes. For Nageswor, that meant building a greenhouse and learning to grow new, stronger crops. With LWR by his side, he has increased the size of his farm sixfold in three years. Now he can afford to feed his family and pay for his children’s education, with enough left over to save a little.
UKRAINE: RESTORING FARMS DESTROYED BY WAR
It is hard work,” Valentina says, “but working on the land is not only about obtaining food to eat, it is also for the soul.
Since retiring, Valentina and Alexander Starikova have farmed their land for food and income. But when Russian troops attacked in February 2022, their village was among the first to be invaded. By the time the troops retreated several months later, the Starikovas’ farm was badly damaged.
Your congregation’s kindness provided agriculture support to 5,500 families like the Starikovas’ this year, including training on how to assess fields for landmines. Farmers learned new techniques for increasing production and received small grants to restore operations. You also provided seeds to grow the ingredients for borscht — a nutritious staple meal in Ukraine that offers comfort and the strength to keep going.
3 ways you changed lives in 2024
Through Lutheran World Relief, you are the hands and feet of Christ in a hurting world. Wherever there is war, poverty or disaster, your compassion is there — sharing love with your neighbors in life-changing ways.
1. IN TIMES OF CRISIS: EARTHQUAKES IN TÜRKIYE
Dilan Cabiroğcu, 17, lives with her parents in a container home you provided. She became depressed when her damaged school could not reopen, until she started attending classes and counseling at an LWR-supported youth-friendly community center.
If it wasn’t for this place, I would probably still be experiencing the shock of the earthquake.
- DILAN CABIROĞCU
2. QUILTS & KITS: HURRICANES IN THE UNITED STATES
When a shelter for homeless veterans flooded in Asheville, North Carolina, residents gratefully received quilts as they moved into temporary housing.
It gave me something to hold on to in the midst of a crisis.
- EDWARD LYNCH
3. FOR THE LONG TERM: FLOODING IN SOUTH SUDAN
Gabriel Gatluak, who lost his leg in a landmine explosion, received support upon arriving at a displacement camp. Today Gabriel works for LWR, teaching other residents about nutrition and gardening.
I’m very happy. If I’m alive, then my children go to school, and then I will support my community.
- GABRIEL GATLUAK
To read more, view the 2024 annual report at lwr.org/congregations.
Thank you for 80 years!
Lutheran World Relief was born in 1945 out of a call for Lutherans to love your neighbors in Europe recovering from World War II. With each generation, this ministry has grown, reaching farther and staying longer to end poverty, injustice and human suffering.
Until your love reaches every neighbor.
Share your congregation's love.
Share restoring hope with God’s children by giving online at lwr.org/congregations or by mailing a check to Lutheran World Relief, PO Box 17061, Baltimore, MD 21297-1061.
To receive updates, join our email list for congregational leaders at lwr.org/congregations.
